1. Canada’Canada’Canada’Canada’Canada’sssss
Soccer NewsSoccer NewsSoccer NewsSoccer NewsSoccer News
VVVVVol. 1, No.1ol. 1, No.1ol. 1, No.1ol. 1, No.1ol. 1, No.1
June 9, 2006June 9, 2006June 9, 2006June 9, 2006June 9, 2006
Inside
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T
he astonishing career of a
poorboyborninVillaPena,
a poor suburb in the depths
of Rio de Janeiro, began with a
club named “Vasco da Gama.”
What follows is the true rag’s
to riches story of Romario, the
Brazilian soccer star who comes
toVancouver on June 9th to play
against the Whitecaps, as a
member of USL's Miami FC. A
die-hard fan may know him by
his original Portuguese nick-
name, “O Baixinho,” which
translates into “Shorty.” Others
may simply recognize him as
“Romario.” However you know
him is irrelevant, what is rel-
evant on the other hand is the
fact: Romario de Souza Faria
will soon go down in history
walking amongst some of the
greatest soccer legends the
game has ever produced.
Vasco da Gama witnessed
first-hand the skills that the
young Romario possessed after
he net four goals against them.
They quickly opened their
pocketbooks pulled strings to
sign him.
At the 1988 Olympics he
was the tournament's top
scorer, attracting the attention
of PSV Eindhoven of the Neth-
erlands to snag him right away.
Unfortunately, due to a broken
leg this boy wonder was left out
of the 1990 World Cup. Still,
four years later, he returned
with a vengeance for lost time.
Playing his best soccer yet, he
led Barcelona to the Spanish ti-
tle, while picking up the award
SoccerSoccerSoccerSoccerSoccer
LegendLegendLegendLegendLegend
Comes toComes toComes toComes toComes to
VVVVVancouverancouverancouverancouverancouver
BY MARCOS TEODORO DA SILVA
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
just a few
goals short“Shorty”:
“Canada’sYouth Soccer is much
better organized than Brazil’s,”
I said.
N
elson Rodrigues, the Bra-
zilian U-20 head coach
gave me a look and I
could see in his face that he
doubted my statement very
much, but out of politeness said
nothing. Brazil’s U-20 team had
just, like they said later on their
THETHETHETHETHEBOTTOMBOTTOMBOTTOMBOTTOMBOTTOMLINELINELINELINELINE
BYINÁCIOTEODORODASILVA
Canada’s youth soccer is much better organized than Brazil’s
website “ended Canada’s party.”
Both coaches had now given
their expected statements and
the media people were mingling
about, when I decided to speak
to Nelson privately and ask him
what he “really” thought about
the Canadian U-20 team.
“Well,” he said in Portu-
guese, “they use physical
strength instead of techniques.
They use long balls instead of
taking it in and they don’t use
every opportunity they have to
seek goals. But it is understand-
able.We couldn’t see soccer on
TV here, just hockey. This is a
hockey country, not soccer.
They have good athletes here
and when soccer starts being or-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
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